PM, HM avoided facing Opposition in Parliament for 20 days: Kharge

New Delhi, August 13, 2026: Congress president and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah avoided coming to Parliament and facing the Opposition for 20 days during the Monsoon Session.

Taking a dig at Shah’s recent statement that the government was ready for a discussion, Kharge said the Home Minister’s offer, made a day before the session’s conclusion after remaining absent for 20 days, was merely a “deception”.

“Shah did not become Home Minister to sit in his chamber. He should have come to the House and shown the courage to answer the Opposition’s questions over the brutal action against students in Delhi,” Kharge said while addressing the national convention of Rachnatmak Congress.

Kharge said that Modi and Shah would end up ruining the country, adding that “using lathis and suppressing voices” had become the principal policy of the ruling establishment.

Attacking the BJP and RSS, Kharge said the Congress’ basic philosophy was to unite the country and keep society together, while “some people sitting in power are working to create divisions among the people on the basis of religion”. He described the BJP and RSS as “two sides of the same coin” and referred to former BJP president J P Nadda’s statement that the party had become capable of functioning on its own. Kharge said the RSS, on the other hand, claimed that the BJP existed because of it. “In reality, both are together pursuing the politics of division in the country,” he remarked.

Kharge also said that whenever an Opposition leader speaks, Rajya Sabha TV cameras are turned away. Parliament, he said, was not a platform for the Prime Minister’s publicity but a forum where different viewpoints from across the country should be heard, debated and responded to within democratic norms.

“Being a Modi bhakt alone will not benefit the country. We have to care about the country,” Kharge said.

Highlighting former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s contribution, Kharge said Congress governments had established public sector institutions and built major schools, colleges and universities that produced engineers, doctors and economists who contributed to nation-building.

Taking a swipe at BJP leaders who criticise Nehru, Kharge said those who were not even born during that period should ask their parents about Nehru’s historical contribution. He said that the RSS had always wanted to keep the country in subjugation and said people should know “who built the country and who is destroying it”.

Kharge also referred to the irregularities concerning donations to the Ram temple, observing that while the RSS claimed to work for social service, it was also involved in “enjoying the benefits” of the temple.